Securing Her Bag: She’s a polymath who has knowledge in engineering, business and possesses other virtual skillsets

This Engineering student juggles being an Engineer in view, an entrepreneur, a Social Media Manager and a virtual assistant.

What was your first experience with money?

Growing up as a child, I never really had to understand the influence money had on our lives and yes I used to give out money from relatives to my mum(which I never saw again). I think I once had a savings box but it wasn’t really a serious thing.

Reality hit me when sometime in secondary school, I started hearing the word “manage” a lot. It was then I realized that I needed to start taking this money thing seriously.

What did you want to be as a child?

At first, I wanted to be a doctor because that’s what all “female science students” desire but then I found the aviation career path fascinating, especially as a female, so it changed to wanting to be a Pilot. However, I’m glad I ended up going for Engineering, which is also super cool

Nice! Enough about school, let’s talk about your business. What other side is there to Kachi? What is she doing to “secure the bag”?

I offer social media management & virtual assistant services to busy professionals and entrepreneurs so they can free up time to focus on other important aspects of their lives.

I also run a fashion retail store with our major products for now being Totebags and crocs. Currently doing my student internship with Shell as well.

These are the moves I’m making to secure the bag.

I’m curious tho, What spurred the interest in all of these?

They’re quite distinct and broad fields

Are you equally interested in all, or you did some because of the money?

Actually what I do as an SM mg & VA is a talent, I discovered early enough that writing, speaking and generally being creative came naturally to me so I honed it and somehow it’s managed to earn me some money at this point in my life and I’m so grateful for this.

The retail store was borne out of the desire to just make money in the most stress-free way I could find which is buying & reselling. Then my internship is a requirement for school and generally the career path I’m taking.

How does it feel like juggling all of these though? Do the cons outweigh the pros or the other way round?

It feels stressful if I’m being honest, many times I’ve wished I could just do just school and maybe a small side hustle but I have to work to earn a living and take care of my financial needs. So instead I’m grateful.

I do what I can and break down sometimes, I take breaks too and somehow I’ve been lucky to find supportive clients who understand my schedule. Then recently I’ve been practising reducing my stress to the barest minimum, it’s okay if I’m tired, it’s okay to rest.

The Pros outweigh the cons:

• I Learned to manage my time better and become more effective in my academics- hit over 4.7/5.0 in my last semester and landed 2 Engineering internships in O&G multinationals. Now I won’t finish school and be starting from scratch to try to make money. I have experience, skill set and will help me when scaling my businesses in the future.
• Because I now make the money I spend, I’m financially wiser. I understand how to save for the rainy days and how to diversify my investment portfolio so when the big monies start coming we’ll be soft for life

So either previously or recently, what challenges have you faced running your businesses including your internship?

The challenges I’ve faced: Product sourcing, time management, healthy stress management

A perfect scenario would be when I struggled with burnout because I didn’t manage my stress well and it affected my mental health and overall productivity.

Showing up as well, imposter syndrome can be very annoying

What’s your relationship with money? Do you think it’s healthy or toxic?

I think it’s healthy, although there is always room for growth

Any advice for people who want to start a business?

Yes. Don’t take on too much at a time, focus on what you can handle per time and do it well.

Securing Her Bag highlights the entrepreneurial and career journeys of Nigerian female university students. If you’d love to share your story on the Securing Her Bag series, please send an email to hello@hervest.ng or fill this form